DURANGO, Colo. - For decades, business folks seeking to level the tourism peaks and valleys and help sustain Durango’s Historic Downtown, have labored to find the successful formula for a conference and events center, even formalizing the effort in 1997 with the formation of the Durango Business Improvement District (BID).

And for those same decades, in spite of repeated studies that verified the value of such a center to a community like Durango, City Council and staff have dragged their collective feet, ostensibly never able to take the leap of faith that the cost of running a conference center at loss would be more than balanced out by increased sales and lodger’s taxes.

Then Al Harper came to town.

Though for a dozen years Harper has had his own challenges operating the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge (D&SNG) Railroad, for the past several he’s been discussing the need for some type of convention or conference and events center. The call to action came for him, however, when his son (and reportedly 200 additional Durango students) were turned away from the Homecoming dance because the venue was too small to accommodate everyone.

“How sad is that?” said Harper recently as he addressed a gathering of Downtown merchants. “It’s not right. We do not have a facility in the city limits of Durango to meet our own local events needs. We need this.”

“This” is “Railroad Square” located at the corner of College Drive and Camino del Rio - a “gateway” to Downtown Durango and adjacent to the D&SNG depot and railroad yard. If developed as conceived, it will contain the 220-room Grand Central Hotel and 26,000 square foot Durango Pioneer Conference and Events Center, plus some retail and 300 parking spaces. Pioneer Center (a working title) will accommodate a sit-down dinner for 600. Currently, the maximum capacity for a sit-down function in Durango is approximately 200.

“As locations go, as a cornerstone, as Durango’s front doorstep, certainly there’s an opportunity to make a pretty impressive statement,” said John Wells, principal in the Wells Group, and BID presiding officer. “We’ve grown to a count of 50,000 and if 20 years ago we could accommodate most local meetings in local facilities. Those days are gone.”

“After 25 years of effort on my part, I think this is a really great opportunity,” said Rod Barker, owner of the Strater Hotel and BID board member. “I know there are still things to be ironed out, as with anything that is conceptual, but it seems that everything Durango needs is in here (the plan).”

Indeed, from all appearances, Harper has thought through every detail, including addressing the aforementioned operational shortfall, which is estimated at $300,000 to $500,000 annually, based on BID’s studies of comparable conference centers. But the project wouldn’t have gotten even close to its current conception had Harper not been introduced to Karen and Rick Langhart. The partnership of the Harpers and the Langharts is likely the best bet for Durango to finally have the yearned-for center.

“(In the Langharts) I found the perfect partners to build Railroad Square,” said Harper, noting that the Langharts will equally shoulder the financial burden and risk of the project. “They also will make it first class. It’s not that we’re trying to build an elitist hotel… but we do want it quality, and we want something that will be here for a long time.”

The Langharts are established community residents, known widely as the founders/owners of the Red Snapper restaurant, which after 20 years they sold in spring of 2005 to pursue other projects. The couple is the force behind the Wyndom Peak development, as well as the redevelopment of the old Iron Horse Inn. Karen Langhart is a land and architectural planner by education and training – which proved convenient when the need for a full land plan emerged at Railroad Square.

“Originally it was conceived as an 80 to 120 room hotel,” said Harper of the stand-alone property that was to be located only on railroad land. “But if we built the hotel and did what we were originally going to do, it would preclude construction of an event center here because of the parking requirements. We need a conference and events center, and I’ll debate that with anyone who says we don’t need it. We didn’t want to cut that off by building our hotel, so we decided to incorporate both.”

With that decision, the project soared from $15 million to approximately $52 million.  Plus the City owns what is currently the dirt parking lot – purchased from the railroad in 2002 to help the D&SNG overcome operational shortfalls during the Missionary Ridge fires. The lot would become the conference center, with two levels of parking underground. And then there’s that matter of the $300,000-plus annual loss at the center. The Harpers and the Langharts had to come up with a plan.

To work with the City, Harper will institute what he calls “a voluntary permanent tax” of 4.5 percent on all 220 of The Grand Central’s rooms. These funds will go to the City and provide a steady stream of income that will allow Railroad Square to take advantage of the City’s bonding capability.

“The city can access bond money at about 4.35 percent today, which is half the cost if I have to borrow money,” said Harper, noting the City’s involvement would be limited to the parking structure. “The city staff seems to think there are lots of precedents for building parking in conjunction with private facilities, as long as there’s a stream of income. We’ve given them a source of income that is dedicated and permanent.”

Harper estimates that by year 5 the imposed room tax will have financed all Railroad Square related costs and the City will then be able to use the revenue stream for additional town projects. The 300 parking spaces at Railroad Square will be open to the public.

“I cannot emphasize enough the cooperation we’re getting from (City Manager) Ron LeBlanc and his staff,” said Harper. “I truly believe they are 100 percent behind us, and that they’re going to work hard on it to make it happen and to show and demonstrate the validity to our political leaders.”

As to the operating losses, Harper’s plan is two-fold, and the decision rests in the hands of the hoteliers in town, and those members of the Business Improvement District – approximately 800 Downtown property and business owners and residents.

Because the hotels will benefit from the 30-some conferences anticipated to be brought to town by the center, Harper is proposing a pay-to-play marketing council that hoteliers would buy into. This would give them a say in how the conference center is “sold” to outside meetings and events, open them up as a participating room partner for conference bookings, plus give Railroad Square approximately $150,000 in annual funding to run the center.

The balance is proposed to come from the BID. Currently the members of the BID pay a self-imposed 1.5 mill levy, which generates some $170,000 annually. Harper doesn’t want to touch this money, as it is effectively being used for Downtown events, promotions and capital purchases to improve the district. He is, however, proposing a vote to double that mill levy.

“I believe the greatest beneficiary of Railroad Square will be ‘Main Street,’ more so than the hotels,” said Harper, who hopes the BID members will approve an increase of 1.5 mills that could generate the balance of the needed operational shortfall. “I’m not looking for a long-term commitment. In 10 years we can stabilize this. I’m very confident we can get there.”

If all parties reach agreement, plans are to have a convention/conference sales staff in place by January, and begin the sales effort. Veteran hotelier Jim Bray has already been retained to manage the hotel proper.

Beyond independent conferences, The Grand Central Hotel promises to be a draw in and of itself. Because one of Harper’s missions is to preserve the history of the railroad, his concept is to completely immerse the hotel visitor in railroad culture. Vintage steam engines will grace the entrance court and lobby, and décor will be based on historic railroads from around the world. Even food will be served on historic railroad china, with details taken right down to the telephone chime in the rooms – a train whistle instead of a ring.

“We’re also going to put in a dispatch tower in the hotel so that anybody who wants to can come and sit in nice chairs and view, through a plate glass window, the dispatcher and the progress of the trains on a computer screen, and listen to all the communication,” said Harper.

Because of the economics of running a railroad, where ticket sales do not cover operational costs, Harper has intended, since he purchased the D&SNG, to build a hotel to help the bottom line. With some 200,000 riders per year, the railroad will easily generate 80,000 room nights.

“It provides a stream of income that ensures this railroad will prosper for generations to come,” said Harper. “That fulfills my mission. This is the piece that I want.”

But he also does want the conference center. The Harpers and the Langharts are banking on community support, that BID members and the City recognize the project as the “lynchpin” to balance the commercial and residential expansion to the east and south.

“We need this lynch pin to continue to keep Downtown as our hub of this community. I believe that this will be the most important project to come along for Durango,” said Harper, reminding that it will be done with no new taxes, and without government involvement in the operation. “It’s a privately funded, business funded program that directly benefits its constituents. We’re committed and really excited. We’ll deliver this thing.” 

 indiana@durangodowntown.com